Effect of maternal immunotherapy on immediate skin test reactivity, specific rye I IgG and IgE antibody, and total IgE of the children.

The effect of specific immunotherapy during pregnancy was studied in 14 children, 3 to 12 years after delivery. Fourteen additional children from the same allergic mothers, in whom immunotherapy was not given during the pregnancy, served as controls. The immediate skin test response to grass allergens of the children of mothers given immunotherapy. Levels of rye I IgG and total IgE were lower in the sera of children born to mothers who received immunotherapy (not statistically significant) than their control cohorts. Paired cord blood and maternal blood samples drawn at delivery showed similar levels of rye I IgG, indicating that blocking antibody freely crosses the placenta. This evidence indicates that immunotherapy during pregnancy may have an inhibitory effect on immediate skin reactivity to grass allergens in some of the offspring. Whether tolerance to other allergens can be induced in children by maternal immunotherapy remains to be determined.